Thomas Davidson

“ Shaft, shaft, n. anything long and straight, as the stem of an arrow, &c.: a long arrow, anything like an arrow in form or effect: the part of a column between the base and capital: the stem of a feather: the pole or thill of a carriage: the handle of a tool of any kind.—adj. Shaft′ed, having a shaft or handle.—ns. Shaft′-horse, the horse that is harnessed between the shafts of a carriage; Shaft′ing (mach.) , the system of shafts connecting machinery with the prime mover.—Make a shaft or a bolt of it (Shak.) ”

“ Shad′-bush, the June-berry or service-berry; Shad′-fly, a May-fly; Shad′-frog, a large and very agile American frog; Shad′-wait′er, the pilot-fish or round-fish. [A.S. sceadda.]
Shaddock, shad′ok, n. a tree of the same genus as the orange, having larger leaves, flowers, and fruit. [Named from Captain Shaddock, who introduced it to the West Indies from China about 1810.]
Shade, shād, n. partial darkness: interception of light: obscurity: a shady place: protection: shelter: a screen: degree of colour: a very minute change: (paint.) ”

“ Sheep′-tick, an insect which attacks the sheep, sucking its blood and raising a tumour; Sheep′walk, the place where the sheep pasture; Sheep′-wash, a lotion for vermin on the sheep, or to preserve its wool—also Sheep′-dip; Sheep′-whis′tling, tending sheep.—Black sheep, the disreputable member of a family or group. ”

“ Sex′ūally.—Sexual affinity, the instinctive attraction of one sex for another; Sexual organs, the organs of generation; Sexual selection, that province of natural selection in which sex comes into play. ”

“ Service, sėr′vis, n. condition or occupation of a servant: a working for another: duty required in any office: military or naval duty: any liturgical form or office, public religious worship, religious ceremonial: a musical composition for devotional purposes: labour, assistance, or kindness to another: benefit: profession of respect: order of dishes at table, or a set of them: official function, use, employment: that which is furnished: a tree of rarely more than 30 feet high, with leaves and flowers like the Rowan-tree, but the former downy beneath—also Sorb.—ns. ”

“ Set one's face, to turn one's self resolutely towards; Set one's hand to, to sign; Set one's self, to bend one's energies toward anything; Set one's self against, to discountenance, oppose; Set one's teeth, to set one's teeth together, as in a strong resolution; Set on fire, to apply fire; Set on foot, to set agoing, to start ”

“ Shetland pony, a small sturdy and shaggy horse, usually nine to ten hands high, a shelty; Shetland wool, a thin but strong undyed worsted, spun from the wool of the sheep in the Shetland Islands, much used for knitting fine shawls, &c. ”

“ Set out, to mark off, to assign: (Bacon) to publish, to adorn: to equip, to furnish: to recommend: to prove: to start; Set over, to appoint as ruler over; Set sail (see Sail) ; Set the fashion, to lead or establish the fashion; Set the teeth on edge (see Edge) ; Set to, to affix: to apply one's self; Set up, to erect, to exalt: to begin: to enable to begin: to place in view: (print.) to put in type: to begin a new course: to make pretensions. ”

“ She-oak, shē′-ōk, n. one of several shrubs of the Australian genus Casuarina.
Sheol, shē′ōl, n. the place of departed spirits. [Heb. she'ōl, a hollow place—shā'al, to dig out.]
Shepherd, shep′ėrd, n. one who herds sheep: a swain: a pastor:—fem. Shep′herdess.—v.t. to tend as a shepherd: to watch over, protect the interests of, or one's own interests in.—ns. Shep′herdism, pastoral life; Shep′herdling, a little shepherd; Shep′herd's-crook, a long staff, its upper end curved into a hook; Shep′herd's-dog, a dog specially trained to help in tending sheep, the collie or Scotch sheep-dog, &c. ”

“ Sexto, seks′to, n. a size of book made by folding a sheet of paper into six leaves.—n. Sex′to-dec′imo, a size of book made by folding a sheet of paper into sixteen leaves: a book of this size.
Sexton, seks′tun, n. an officer who has charge of a church, attends the clergyman, digs graves, &c.: a burying-beetle.—ns. Sex′ton-bee′tle, a coleopterous insect of the genus Necrophorus; Sex′tonship, the office of a sexton. ”

“ Serve a process or writ, to formally communicate a process or writ to the person to whom it is addressed; Serve an attachment, to levy such a writ on the person or goods by seizure; Serve an execution, to levy an execution on the person or goods by seizure; Serve a sentence, to undergo the punishment prescribed by a judicial sentence; Serve one a trick, to play a trick on one; Serve one out, to take revenge on some one; Serve one right, to treat one as he deserves; Serve one's time, to complete one's apprenticeship ”

“ Seven stars, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn: the constellation Ursa Major: the Pleiades; Seven wise masters, the most common title given to a famous medieval collection of stories grouped round a central story of the birth, education, and trials of a young prince. Accused like Joseph, he is sentenced to death, but each one of the seven viziers gains a day, out of the fated seven during which the prince may not open his mouth, by two tales against women. ”

“ Setter, set′ėr, n. one who sets, as music to words: a dog which crouches when it scents the game: one who finds out the victims for thieves.—Setter forth, one who proclaims or promotes anything; Setter off, one who decorates; Setter on, an instigator; Setter out, one who expounds; Setter up, one who establishes.
Setter, set′ėr, v.t. (prov.) to cut an ox's dewlap, and treat with a seton.—ns. Sett′ering, the foregoing process; Sett′er-wort, the fetid hellebore.
Settima, set′ti-ma, n. (mus.) the interval of a seventh— (obs.) Set′timo. ”

“ Shear′-hog, a sheep after the first shearing; Shear′ing, the act or operation of cutting with shears: what is cut off with shears: (Scot.) the time of reaping: the process of preparing shear-steel: (geol.) the process by which shear-structure (q.v.) has been produced; Shear′ling, a sheep only once sheared; Shear′man, one whose occupation is to shear cloth; Shears (pl. and sing.) , an instrument for shearing or cutting, consisting of two blades that meet each other: a hoisting apparatus (see Sheers) : anything resembling shears, as even a pair of wings (Spens.) ”

“ Din′ner-ser′vice, a full set of dishes for dinner; Tā′ble-ser′vice, a set of utensils for the table; Wild′-ser′vice, a small species of service-tree, cultivated in England for its fruit and wood.—Service of an heir (Scots law) , a proceeding before a jury to determine the heir of a person deceased.—Active service, service of a soldier, &c., in the field, against an enemy; At your service, a phrase of civility; Have seen service, to have been in active military service: to have been put to hard use; Plain service, in Anglican usage, an office which is simply read. ”

“ Sheep, shēp, n.sing. and pl. the well-known ruminant mammal covered with wool: leather made from sheep-skin: a silly and timid fellow.—ns. Sheep′-bīt′er (Shak.) , one who practises petty thefts; Sheep′-bīt′ing, robbing those under one's care, like an ill-trained shepherd-dog; Sheep′-cote, an enclosure for sheep; Sheep′-dog, a dog trained to watch sheep: (slang) a chaperon.—adj. Sheep′-faced, sheepish, bashful.—ns. Sheep′-farm′er, Sheep′-fold, a fold or enclosure for sheep: a flock of sheep ”

“ Serve the purpose of, to answer adequately an end for which something else is designed; Serve the turn, to suffice for one's immediate purpose or need; Serve time, to undergo a period of imprisonment, &c. ”

“ Shanghai, shang-hī′, n. a long-legged hen with feathered shanks, said to have been introduced from Shanghai in China: (U.S.) a tall dandy.—v.t. (naut. ) to hocus a sailor and ship him while insensible: (U.S.) to get a person by some artifice into a jurisdiction where he can lawfully be arrested. ”

“ Shell′er, one who shells or husks; Shell′fish, a popular term for many aquatic animals not fishes, esp. oysters, clams and all molluscs, and crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters; Shell′-gun, a cannon used for throwing shells, esp. horizontally: Shell′-heap, a prehistoric accumulation of shells, &c., pointing back to a race that lived on shellfish; Shell′-ice, ice no longer supported by the water beneath; Shell′-jack′et, an undress military jacket; Shell′-lime, lime procured from the shells of shellfish by burning; Shell′-lime′stone, a limestone largely consisting of shells ”

“ Shep′herd's-nee′dle, an annual plant, called also Venus's comb; Shep′herd's-plaid, -tar′tan, a woollen cloth made with black and white checks: this form of pattern itself; Shep′herd's-pouch, -purse, an annual cruciferous plant, with compressed, somewhat heart-shaped seed-vessel; Shep′herd's-rod, -staff, a small kind of teasel.—Shepherd kings (see Hyksos) .—The Good Shepherd, a title of Jesus Christ (John, x. 11) ; The Shepherds, a sect of fanatical shepherds in France about 1251 A.D., eager to deliver the imprisoned Louis IX. [A.S. sceáp-hyrde. Sheep and herd.] ”

“ Sheep′-shank (Scot.) , the shank of a sheep—hence something slender and weak: a nautical knot for temporarily shortening a rope; Sheep′-shearer, one who shears sheep; Sheep′-shearing; Sheep′-shears, a kind of shears used for shearing sheep; Sheep′-sil′ver, money formerly paid by tenants for release from the service of washing the lord's sheep; Sheep′-skin, the skin of a sheep: leather prepared from the skin of a sheep: a deed engrossed on sheep-skin parchment; Sheep′-steal′er; Sheep′-steal′ing; Sheep's′-wool, a valuable Florida sponge ”

“ Sheal, Shiel, shēl, n. (Scot.) a hut used by shepherds, sportsmen, &c.: a shelter for sheep.—ns. Sheal′ing, Sheel′ing, Shiel′ing. [Either Ice. skáli, a hut, or Ice. skjól, a shelter; both cog. with sky, shade.]
Shear, shēr, v.t. to cut or clip: to clip with shears or any other instrument: (Scot.) to reap with a sickle.—v.i. to separate, cut, penetrate: in mining, to make a vertical cut in the coal:—pa.t. sheared, (obs.) shore; pa.p. sheared or shorn.—n. a shearing or clipping: a strain where compression is answered by elongation at right angles: curve, deviation.—ns. ”

“ Shear′-steel, steel suitable for the manufacture of shears and other edge-tools; Shear′-struc′ture (geol.) , a structure often seen in volcanic rocks, due to the reciprocal compression and elongation of various parts under great crust movements; Shear′-wa′ter, a genus of oceanic birds allied to the petrels, and varying from 81⁄2 to 14 inches in length. [A.S. sceran; Ice. skera, to clip, Ger. scheren, to shave.] ”

“ Sher′iff-off′icer, in Scotland, an officer connected with the sheriff's court, who is charged with arrests, the serving of processes, &c.; Sher′iff-sub′stitute, the acting sheriff in a Scotch county or city, like the sheriff-depute appointed by the crown, but unlike the sheriff-depute forced to reside within his judicial district, and forbidden to take other employment ”

“ Shā′ver, one who shaves: a barber: a sharp or extortionate dealer: (coll.) a chap, youngster; Shā′ving, the act of shaving: that which is shaved or pared off; Shā′ving-bā′sin, -bowl, -brush, a basin, bowl, brush, used by persons shaving.—Close, or Near, shave, a very narrow escape. [A.S. sceafan, scafan; Dut. schaven, Ger. schaben, L. scabĕre, to scrape, Gr. skaptein, to dig.]
Shavie, shā′vi, n. (Scot.) a trick or prank.—Also Skā′vie. [Perh. Dan. skæv, crooked; cf. Ger. schief, oblique.]
Shaw, shaw, n. a thicket, a small wood: (Scot.) a stem with the leaves, as of a potato. ”